TUCSON, ARIZONA, May 16 & 18—He hasn’t made a national team yet, but Sean Donnelly has a good leg up on a Tokyo hammer spot next year after ripping off three straight PRs, the last of them a 254-6 (77.59) at the second Tucson Elite meet that made him the first American to achieve the Olympic qualifying standard of 254-3 (77.50). The 26-year-old Minnesota alum told correspondent Paul Merca, “It takes a huge weight off my shoulders. Now I can take what is it, the next 18 months and just train and focus on throwing farther, peaking at the right time for the Olympics.”
The Iron Wood TC star came into the year with a PR of 252-6 (76.69), a mark he set in last year’s edition of the meet (and he had PRed in the meet as well the previous year). In Long Beach at the end of April he upped that to 253-3 (77.20), then on the first day of Tucson added a centimeter (leaving the English measure unchanged) to that.
Another Huge Crouser Throw
Reigning Olympic shot champ Ryan Crouser is going for bigger fish than a Q at this point. Throwing only on the second day of the meet, he unleashed a series of 71-4, 74‑4½, 73-3½, foul, 71-7½, 72‑5¼ (21.74, 22.67, 22.34, f, 21.83, 22.08) to easily turn back the PR 69-1¼ (21.06) by David Pless. Crouser’s biggest throw rates as the No. 4 U.S. performance ever.
He told Merca, “I was really happy with it, second-farthest meet of my life. The series was a little bit inconsistent, but I’ve been back in heavy training since Doha, so I felt, actually, a little bit flat. But I’ve been working on redoing my technique out of the back a little bit.”
c
TUCSON ELITE CLASSIC MEN’S RESULTS
Tucson, Arizona, May 16 & 18—
Elite I
SP: 1. Jon Jones (Vel) 68-9¾ (20.97) PR; 2. Garrett Appier (CVE) 67-1¼ (20.45); 3. Josh Awotunde (CVE) 66-7¼ (20.30); 4. David Pless (Iron) 66-2¼ (20.17); 5. Uziel Muñoz’ (Mex) 65-4¼ (19.92); 6. Jordan Young’ (Can) 65-½ (19.82); 7. Simon Bayer’ (Ger) 64-½ (19.52); 8. Nick Ponzio (DesHP) 63-5½ (19.34); 9. Roger Steen (Vel) 61-2¾ (18.66);… nm—Curtis Jensen (Vel).
DT: 1. Brian Williams (Velaasa) 210-5 (64.14); 2. Alex Rose’ (AmS) 204-1 (62.21); 3. Rodney Brown (RTB) 203-1 (61.90); 4. Jared Schuurmans (unat) 200-6 (61.11); 5. Colin Quirke’ (Ire) 195-2 (59.49); 6. Noah Kennedy White (GarS) 195-2 (59.48); 7. Jordan Young’ (Can) 188-10 (57.56); 8. Josh Syrotchen (GarS) 187-7 (57.18); 9. Eric Masington (Arete) 185-6 (56.55).
HT: 1. Sean Donnelly (Iron) 253-3 (77.21) PR (AL (9, x A) (f, 241-9, 245-0, 251-4, 253-3, f) (f, 73.68, 74.69, 76.60, 77.21, f); 2. Daniel Haugh (KennSt) 247-10 PR (75.55) (AmCL) (3, x AmC) (247-10, 246-2, f, f, 247-1, 244-3) (75.55, 75.04, f, f, 75.31, 74.46);
3. Rudy Winkler (NYAC) 245-1 (74.70); 4. Alex Young (Vel) 240-9 (73.38); 5. Diego Del Real’ (Mex) 240-6 (73.30); 6. Daniel Roberts (Vel) 239-3 (72.92); 7. Colin Dunbar (Iron) 236-3 (72.00); 8. Jordan Crayon (Vel) 223-7 (68.14); 9. Marcus Myers (unat) 216-1 (65.87).
JT: 1. Josue Menendez’ (Mex) 253-8 (77.32); 2. Carlos Armenta’ (Mex) 252-0 (76.83); 3. Michael Shuey (Vel) 251-3 (76.59); 4. David Carreon’ (Mex) 250-0 (76.20); 5. David Ocampo’ (Mex) 240-9 (73.38); 6. Capers Williamson (unat) 229-6 (69.95).
Elite II
SP: I–1. Ryan Crouser (Nik) 74-4½ (22.67) (x, 4 A) (71-4, 74-4½, 73-3½, f, 71-7½, 72-5¼) (21.74, 22.67, 22.34, f, 21.83, 22.08);
2. Pless 69-1¼ (21.06) PR (66-8, 65-5½, f, 69-1¼, f, 65-7¾) (20.32, 19.95, f, 21.06, f, 20.01); 3. Jones 68-5¼ (20.86); 4. Denzel Comenentia’ (Ga) 68-3¾ (20.82); 5. Appier 66-7 (20.29); 6. Awotunde 66-6½ (20.28); 7. **Turner Washington (unat) 65-4¾ (19.93); 8. Jensen 65-4 (19.91).
II–1. Muñoz’ 68-4¼ (20.83) PR; 2. Bayer’ 65-2¾ (19.88); 3. Ponzio 64-6¾ (19.68); 4. Steen 64-3 (19.58); 5. Young’ 62-9½ (19.14); 6. Lucas Warning (GarS) 61-3 (18.67); 7. Elijah Talk (unat) 61-¼ (18.60).
DT: 1. Williams 214-7 (65.42) (198-7, 193-9, 210-7, f, 210-1, 214-7) (60.52, 59.07, 64.18, f, 64.04, 65.42); 2. Rose’ 206-7 (62.97); 3. Brown 201-8 (61.47); 4. Young’ 195-9 (59.66); 5. Schuurmans 193-5 (58.96); 6. Quirke’ 191-9 (58.45); 7. White 189-1 (57.64); 8. Masington 188-7 (57.48); 9. Syrotchen 185-5 (56.52).
HT: 1. Sean Donnelly (Iron) 254-6 (77.59) PR (AL) (9, x A) (246-5, 248-6, 248-7, 254-6, f, f) (75.12, 75.75, 75.78, 77.59, f, f);
2. Winkler 248-0 (75.61) (241-5, f, 244-7, 247-8, 248-0, f) (73.59, f, 74.55, 75.48, 75.61, f); 3. Del Real’ 245-1 (74.71); 4. Young 240-11 (73.43); 5. Roberts 240-0 (73.16); 6. Dunbar 237-11 (72.53); 7. Myers 223-10 (68.23).
JT: 1. Shuey 256-7 (78.22); 2. Riley Dolezal (Vel) 255-4 (77.84); 3. Carreon’ 248-2 (75.64); 4. John Ampomah’ (Gha) 245-8 (74.88); 5. Menendez’ 241-4 (73.57); 6. Nicholas Howe (unat) 240-3 (73.22); 7. Ocampo’ 236-8 (72.14); 8. Armenta’ 235-6 (71.79); 9. Williamson 231-8 (70.61); 10. Brent Lagace (unat) 224-4 (68.38).
TUCSON WOMEN’S RESULTS
SP: 1. Jessica Woodard (unat) 59-2¾ (18.05); 2. Jeneva Stevens (NYAC) 59-0 (17.98); 3. Brittany Crew’ (Can) 58-9¼ (17.91); 4. Monique Riddick (VelGS) 58-8 (17.88); 5. Lena Giger (unat) 56-7½ (17.26); 6. Sarah Mitton’ (Can) 55-9 (16.99).
DT: 1. Kelsey Card (FTTF) 201-0 (61.27); 2. Gia Lewis-Smallwood (NYAC) 199-2 (60.71); 3. Rachel Dincoff (Iron) 195-5 (59.57); 4. Alex Collatz-Sellens (ABG) 194-4 (59.23); 5. Sarah Thornton (Iron) 184-3 (56.16); 6. Trinity Tutti’ (Can) 183-6 (55.95) NJR; 7. Alma Pollorena’ (Mex) 181-0 (55.16) NR;
8. Summer Pierson (unat) 180-4 (54.97); 9. Kayla Hopkins (unat) 175-2 (53.39);… nm—Jeré Summers (unat).
JT: 1. Mariana Castro’ (Mex) 186-11 (56.98); 2. Maggie Malone (unat) 180-1 (54.90); 3. Hannah Carson (Shore) 164-0 (50.00); 4. Bethany Drake (Ois) 163-8 (49.90); 5. Channing Wilson (unat) 158-11 (48.44).
Elite II
SP: 1. Crew’ 60-6¾ (18.46) (58-4½, 60-6¾, 59-0, 59-0, 59-6¼, 58-5¼) (17.79, 18.46, 17.98, 17.98, 18.14, 17.81); 2. Riddick 60-4½ (18.40) (59-4¾, 58-4¾, 60-4½, f, 57-10¼, 58-½) (18.10, 17.80, 18.40, f, 17.63, 17.69);
3. Stevens 59-11¾ (18.28); 4. Maria Orozco’ (Mex) 55-9¾ (17.01); 5. Giger 55-5¾ (16.91); 6. Woodard 55-5½ (16.90); 7. Mitton’ 55-¾ (16.78); 8. Brittney Smith (DesHP) 53-4¼ (16.26).
DT: 1. Collatz-Sellens 192-9 (58.75); 2. Lewis-Smallwood 189-11 (57.88); 3. Pollorena’ 183-10 (56.03); 4. Pierson 181-2 (55.22); 5. Sarah Thornton (Iron) 180-7 (55.04); 6. Summers 177-5 (54.09); 7. Dincoff 176-9 (53.88).
JT: 1. Avione Allgood (USAr) 180-1 (54.89); 2. Castro’ 174-10 (53.29); 3. Malone 173-2 (52.78); 4. Katie Reichert (unat) 171-0 (52.13); 5. Wilson 169-7 (51.68); 6. Drake 163-3 (49.76). ◻︎
